How can brands keep their strategies alive amid Lockdown 2.0?

As we enter lockdown 2.0 it’s important to keep your brand light burning and ensure that you are thoughtfully maximising your presence and staying connected with your customers.

The pandemic has been a symbol for bringing the world closer together. Businesses have had to rethink the way that they operate, and use this time to refocus strategies, invest better in marketing tools and navigate this turbulent time for the better, but are we better equipped this time round?

Since the start of the pandemic businesses as a whole are having to be nimbler and adjust business models to keep up with changing customer sentiment and choice preferences.

The speed of technology transformations across industries has accelerated and brought forward many sectors (by 4 years in some cases!) Take for instance the postal market and eCommerce world adapting to changing customer demand and finding new ways to deliver value.

OWB are here to assist in helping you to think differently to find growth and ensure that we all get through November (and onwards…) with well-informed customers and prospects.

MOVING FORWARD

What can you do right now as a business to remain connected with customers?

To ensure that your brand is on the front foot and maximising presence, follow our Top 10 Lockdown 2.0 mega tips:

1. Lockdown offers – exclusive offers will draw customers to your brand, people will be doing the majority of their Christmas shopping online, so take every opportunity to stand out
2. Hours of business – make these clear as your customers will want to be kept informed during lockdown, who’s open?
3. Up to date information – is there anything specific that you want to mention to customers and additional ways they can reach you? Ie. Out of hour chat lines/ email, chat boxes etc. Brands may be temporarily closing but customers will want to know how else they can reach your brand to arrange future bookings.
4. Review of communication channels – for instance eComms and boilerplates. Let your customers know that you’re still there for them and lines of communication are open.
5. Social media messaging – this will need to be created in line with current customer sentiment, be of value to your customer – keep content positive, light- hearted and informative.
6. Local SEO – as people are going to be at home predominantly what they will be searching for online will change on a weekly basis. Track keywords across the sales funnel, track on Google Trends or track trends that inspire product purchases that are increasing.
7. Get creative – use this time at home to consider better ways to connect and maintain an engaged audience and the loyalty of existing customers as well as growing a new audience base. Do your planning for the upturn in business.
8. Make the most of the digital tools on offer – the pandemic has accelerated the introduction of new platforms being introduced aimed at supporting brands as they re-position their focus, and helping brands directly connect with customers. From LinkedIn Live and Virtual events on LinkedIn, read more about new tools provided by digital platforms.
9. Support small businesses and charities – a positive of Covid is the bringing together of communities and resources to support each other in every way that we can – all brands should be playing their part in this.
10. Customer Service – ensure that this is maintained, support current requirements and needs of customers and you will ensure long term loyalty in the future – again, keep messaging light-hearted and positive when delivering your communications.

Brands have had to adapt before and they will again, but we are ready this time. The next step is thinking long-term and which strategies are more likely to stand the test of time, and keep customers returning.

If you need anything from us, we’re here to support in any means possible! Fancy a coffee and chat over zoom? Contact Andy, call 0121 766 6571 or connect on Linkedin.